


Dear Love, Am I Bent or Broken?

by nyanbacon



Series: Myriad [9]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Betrayal, Break Up, F/M, Love, controlling parents, mentions of domestic abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-14 09:24:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16037597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyanbacon/pseuds/nyanbacon
Summary: An old love, a series of letters, and an evil spouse that has no sense of good or bad. Leo was starting to get real sick of being pulled into these situations.





	1. The Princess Bride

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter takes place right before Brink of Self Destruction, hence the hostile flirting. Leo has been working at the restaurant with Karai for a few weeks, and he’s been working at the Starbucks with Takeshi for months.

Leonardo stared at Karai from where she stood inches away from him. The pouring rain they were both already drenched in continued to soak the floor inches away from them. They’d managed to slip under the cover of one of the awnings outside where they worked, and the fat raindrops made loud noises on the canvas shielding them from the weather.

“You’re… what?”

Karai tensed a bit. Her arms were tightly folded across her chest and she dug her fingernails into her arms. The fabric of her jacket folded under her grip.

“I know… this isn’t a great time to be breaking it to you-”

“Environmentally?” He gestured vaguely to the rain- and, as an extension, the fact it was after eight at night. “Or situationally.”

“Would you just let me talk?” She asked, voice a bit shrill. Leo quickly shut his mouth, but he couldn’t hold back the glare that permeated his gaze. She stared at the ground and the silence was only punctured by the sound of the rain tapering off a bit. The noise was amplified by the canvas hanging above them.

“Alright,” he said when she didn’t immediately jump into an explanation, growling a small bit. For a moment, he reminded himself too much of Raph. “Talk.”

She took a shaky breath. “It’s… my dad.”

Leo thought his heart stopped. “... what?”

“My dad is…” She started, but her voice sounded strained, and she pressed a hand to her mouth. Leo swallowed and held out one of his arms, dropping the other to his side, and she fell into him, pressing her face against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her arm. Her shoulders trembled, and he didn’t know if it was because she was cold in the biting breeze, or because she was crying into his chest.

He shushed her softly, resting his chin on the top of her head. “It’s okay,” he breathed, but she suddenly pushed away, just enough to look up at him with wide eyes.

“But it’s not!” She cried. “Dad is being a controlling _bitch_ and-”

“Karai, I can’t help you if you don’t-”

“I can’t be helped.” She pulled away and turned her back to him. “Not anymore.”

“Karai…” He reached out but just missed placing his hand on her shoulder as she stepped away, getting dangerously close to the edge of the dry area they’d found sanctuary in. Leo dropped his hand, letting out a heavy sigh. His breath was just visible in the dark. “Fine. I won’t help you, if you don’t want me to-”

“It’s not that I don’t _want_ you to-”

“But I still deserve a right to know what’s going on, don’t I?”

She looked up at him. Her eyes were glistening, and he bit his lip.

“If I’m being pushed out of the picture, then… don’t I get to know why?”

He watched her consider it- the flicker of hope that crossed her face, the way she wiped at her eyes delicately, to push away the tears but not smudge her eyeliner. The small things Leo still loved about her.

“My dad… doesn’t… approve of you.”

He stared at her for a long moment. The rain had started coming down harder again. “I wasn’t aware he knew.”

“He _didn’t_. Not until…”

“You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“Of course not!” She finally unfolded her arms, clenching her hands into fists at her sides. “Because I _knew_ he’d do this.”

“Okay.” He nodded slowly, understanding. Oroku Saki had never been one to approve of people Karai picked to date- Leo knew that. They sometimes joked about it- all the guys that he had scared off when Karai was younger. Now, though… now it wasn’t fair. Karai was her own woman, and yet she was still treated like a teeanger. “Do you know how he found out?”

“Yeah.” She rubbed at her eyes delicately and Leo’s heart ached. “Takeshi told him.”

He stiffened. “... he what?”

Karai nodded weakly. “He told Dad that you and I were… and Dad got mad.”

He clenched and unclenched his hands. Takeshi was horrible to work with, sure, and Leo didn’t like him, but he’d thought he was a good person- a person who cared more about the people around him than doing the right thing.

Leo _hated_ it when he was wrong.

“So…” He started. “... what now?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Am I supposed to…” He raised his hand slightly, just enough to gesture to the restaurant.

“No, no… I doubt either of them will care.”

“Either of them?”

He heard her suck in an alarmed breath. “Uh… y-yeah…” She rubbed the back of her neck with a shaking hand. “Dad… set me up with Takeshi.”

A flare of anger welled in Leo’s chest. “... what?”

“He’s making me date Tigerclaw.”

He hadn’t wanted her to repeat it. “Like… an arranged marriage?”

“I think he’s expecting us to go through the process. But…” Karai nodded. “Basically.”

Leo sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. “So-”

“I’m breaking up with you because my Dad is making me date Takeshi.”

He nodded. “Okay. Cool.”

“Cool?”

“I don’t like it. But I…. we don’t have a choice.”

Karai stared at him before bowing her head and nodding. He could hear her hiccup before she whispered a soft, “okay.”

He bent down slightly so he could catch her gaze when she lifted her head just enough to look at him. “Can I at least get a good bye kiss?” He asked softly, so softly he knew she might not be able to hear him over the rain.

She smiled and slowly stepped forward, snaking her warm hand up along his cold cheek so it could rest on his jawline. “Of course.”

She pressed her lips against his and his eyes fluttered closed as he wrapped his arms around her. He was only aware of the tears in the corners of his eyes once she was gone, slipping away without him noticing, and his arms and body were left cold and void of her warmth.

He sighed and wiped his eyes on the back of his hand before turning and heading off to his car. Ignoring the second to last car that sped out of the parking lot, away from him as fast as it could go.


	2. A Painful Reminder

That was weeks ago. Leo knew he should be over it by now, but for some reason, he couldn’t escape it. The way that the chilling rain seeped into his bones coupled with the heartache he spent every day afterwards trying to suppress- it was hard to avoid.

He sighed as he adjusted the velcro around the brace on his arm and squeezed his fingers, watching them twitch and shake a bit as he did. It was late a Saturday morning- nine or ten, maybe- and sunlight was streaming in through the window. He looked out at it with a frown, wondering if Mikey would be out of the house that day.

After a moment he pushed himself off the bed and walked downstairs, placing his hand lightly on the banister as he walked.

Mikey was not, in fact, outside, but instead standing over the stove, humming some music to himself as he pushed bacon around a pan. Donnie was nowhere to be found, probably downstairs in the basement, and Raph was asleep on the couch. Again.

“Morning Mikey.” He walked over and stood behind him before glancing up at the microwave. He’d overestimated how late it was- it was only 8:30.

“Hi Leo,” he chirped, sounding a bit tired, but quickly covered it up by smiling up at Leo upside down. “Will you be staying for breakfast?” He asked hopefully.

Leo smiled and reached up, carding his fingers gently through Mikey’s blonde hair. “Yeah. I’m still out of commission until Monday.” He held up the brace around his arm and waved it slightly.

Mikey grinned and looked back at the bacon, shaking out how Leo had carded his hair back so it fell back in his face.

Leo strode over to the couch and kicked Raph’s legs, which took up a majority of the couch, and Raph responded by kicking back out at him. Leo took a step back, grinning.

“Move.”

“No,” Raph grunted into the pillow.

“Fine.” Leo bent down with his good arm and lifted Raph’s legs up by the ankles. Raph yelped and kicked at him, and Leo dropped him so the force of the kick would knock Raph off the couch entirely. Leo plopped down on the end of the couch and crossed his legs, smirking. 

“You dick,” Raph muttered. 

“Language.”

Raph kicked out at Leo’s ankles, but Leo pulled his knees up to his chest and laughed when Raph missed. 

He scowled. “Sometimes I think I might’ve liked you better when you weren’t home.”

Mikey dropped a metal bowl in the kitchen and Leo’s laughter dwindled to a small smile, trying to ignore the way the comment made his chest ache. Raph sat back down on the couch with a huff and snatched the remote from where it was next to Leo. Leo let his feet rest back on the couch. 

“Hey Mikey,” Leo called, looking back over his shoulder. “Everything okay in there?”

“Yeah!” Mikey called back. “ _ Someone _ just put the dishes away incorrectly and the bowl fell out.”

“Wouldn’t that someone be you?” Raph called. This elicited no response. He looked back at the TV as he turned it on and flipped through some channels aimlessly. Leo watched, distracted as his mind wandered.

“Hey.”

Leo looked at Raph, catching his piercing green gaze for a long enough moment it made goosebumps travel up Leo’s spine, and he looked back at the TV. 

“Are you alright?”

“Huh?” Leo asked dumbly, looking back at him.

“I said, are you okay. You’ve been cooped up in the house for… I don’t know, a while?” Raph rubbed the back of his neck, glancing sidelong at the ground. “It’s really not like your schedule before. With how much you’d been spending away from the house, and all.”

Leo blinked before shrugging and leaning back into the couch cushions. “The break is nice,” he said, voice soft and almost wistful. 

“What had you been doing, anyway.”

Leo looked up at the ceiling. “A lot.”

“You were spending every night out.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t believe you were spending every single night at a study session.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re too damn smart to need that much studying.”

This made Leo take pause. He wasn’t sure whether that was a compliment on how smart Leo was, or if it was an insult on how bad he was at keeping secrets. He’d like to believe it was the former, but knowing Raph, it was probably the latter.

“I’ve just been… busy.”

“Busy doing what?” Raph narrowed his eyes. “Karai?”

“You don’t need three hours to do that.”

“Dinner, foreplay and-”

“And why do you know so much about this anyway?” Leo turned on him accusingly.

“I’m not stupid.”

“You’re not well read.”

“You don’t need to read to know how sex works, Leo.”

Leo opened his mouth, closed it, turned and leaned back against the couch, unable to come up with a response. 

“Have you seriously been going out with Karai?”

“No,” Leo said, quickly, curtly. He hadn’t told them about Karai, and he knew he should, but he didn’t want to. Not until he was over the heartbreak.

“How is Karai doing, anyway?” Mikey piped up from the kitchen, still working on making breakfast and not bothering to come join them in the family room to make his additions to the conversations.

“She’s doing fine.” Leo nodded slowly. 

“How come we never see her anymore?” Raph asked with a frown.

“She’s busy.”

“Like you?”

“More so.”

“What’re you-”

There was a sharp cry of pain from the basement and the sound of something metal falling to pieces on the floor. Raph sat up a bit more in alarm and Leo quickly got to his feet, thankful for the distraction.

“I’ll go check on Donnie. You go get the first aid kit,” he said as he quickly moved around Raph and headed towards the basement. He jumped a bit when he felt a hand hit his shoulder and he turned to see Raph glaring at him.

“We’re not done with this conversation,” he growled before letting Leo go and making his way upstairs.

Leo stared after him a moment before blinking himself back into the moment and turning to recede downstairs to inspect the damage, hoping that somehow he’d get out of that conversation.


	3. The First Letter

Leo sat on his bed with his back leaned up against the wall behind his bed, running his fingers delicately over the white envelope he held in his hands. He’d completely forgotten about it until Donnie reminded him about it that morning, when he was picking up some stuff for a movie night at April’s.

In Leo’s defense, he hadn’t forgotten about it more than he had just not been notified of its existence. He’d been in a coma when it had been dropped off, and since he’d been so horribly out of it when he was released from the hospital, his brothers had brought it home for him, along with the vase of flowers that had long since died and been thrown in the trash. 

He turned it over in hands so that the opening was staring at him, and he stared back. Some part of him was afraid to open this. He didn’t know what it would contain. Raph had told him, after Donnie had idly mentioned it, that it had showed up after Karai had visited his room. He hadn’t expected that… so what did she want? He supposed there was only way to find out.

He opened the letter carefully.

 

_ Dear Leonardo Hamato, _

_ As I’m writing this, you are still in a coma. I don’t know if you’re going to wake up, or if you’ll ever see this letter, but I need help, and if you do pass, I won’t care who reads it, as long as someone does. _

_ Breaking up with you was not my decision. It was a task forced into my hands by my father at the dispense of my happiness. You know this. You also know that I had to do it because of the relationship he was forcing me into, with Takeshi. I told you all this weeks ago. I think you’ll remember. I hope you do. _

_ What I did not realize was that my father had ulterior motives. _

_ I’m sure you remember the horror stories that I told you of what he’d do to people who wouldn't listen to his authority. The way he treats lower ranked workers at the office, and the fact he seemed to take pride in what he did. It was one of the things we hated about him- and one of the few things we’d never joke about. You went with me, once, to visit one of the victims of his rage. It was horrible.  _

_ He’s been doing this for years, supposedly even before I was born. Taking his anger out on the people who he felt wronged him, who disrespected him in even the slightest way.  _

_ I’ve figured it out now, so I hope you have too. _

_ You know I had to keep our relationship a secret, to avoid getting in trouble for dating guys he didn’t approve of. That’s how we ended up here in the first place- although it would’ve happened sooner or later, no matter what we did. When Takeshi figured it out and told him, he was angry. More angry than Takeshi had ever seen him, according to what Takeshi said. And my father made a deal with Takeshi. _

_ He told Takeshi that he could have me as his romantic partner, if Takeshi punished me for everything I’d done wrong. _

_ Since father can’t lay a hand on me without having something happen to his reputation, he pawned the responsibility off to someone who isn’t connected to him occupationally or genetically. That way, he could still get away with punishing me for dating you. _

_ Now, instead of father doing the punishing, it’s Takeshi. _

_ If I step even remotely out of line, Takeshi comes down on me like a starved tiger. He’s angry all the time- even more so than he is when he deals with troubling employees at work. He hurts me all the time. It hasn’t gotten too bad, not so bad I need to go to the police, but I fear that if I don’t do something to get out of it now, it might become that way. _

_ Everything that I do is wrong to him. I can’t talk to friends, or anyone but him and my father. Working has become a hassle because talking to my coworkers is a problem to him. Writing this letter is a huge risk I’ve been afraid to take for weeks. _

_ I need help. I can’t stay in this position forever.  _

_ I know this isn’t the kind of crawling back reunion you were probably looking for, but I’m going to break if something isn’t done soon. _

_ Please, Leo, I’m begging you. _

_ Help me. _

_ -Karai _

 

Leo stared at the letter in his hands, then read it a second time, and then a third. The words read over and over again balled themselves into an ache in his chest that settled into his stomach and made him feel sick with so many emotions, picking them apart and identifying them would take hours.

If Karai was being abused, he didn’t have that kind of time.

Hands shaking so hard it felt like the tremors were going to his teeth and making them chatter, he folded the letter and tucked it back into the envelope. Her delicate but slightly erratic-with-panic cursive disappeared back into the white paper, and he closed it back over, setting it on his nightstand. It looked like it had remained untouched.

He had to do something with this news. He had to get her out of that situation.

But he didn’t have any clue on how, or where to start.


	4. In My Hands

Leo was allowed to go back to work on Monday, and he’d never been so nervous about anything in his life. 

Splinter had offered to put a down payment on a car so Leo had an easy way to get to work, but he’d declined. Part of it was that he didn’t want Splinter going into that kind of debt to make things easier on Leo. If Leo was honest with himself, though, another part of it was that he was terrified to be driving again. Even public transit was a bit daunting. 

Regardless, he had obligations. He couldn’t let a little bit of paranoia keep him from them. 

Leo had quit his morning job at the Starbucks, with Takeshi, so his schedule was a bit more lenient and he was able to get more sleep. Even so, he’d ended up sleeping in more than intended. He had just enough time to get dressed, shove some things into his bag, and pour the last bit of the still warm coffee Mikey had made him hours before into a travel cup before he had to be out the door heading to the bus stop.

It wasn’t until he got to class and reached into his bag that he realized he’d accidentally roped Karai’s letter in with his schoolwork. He frowned at it, before pushing it aside in favor of pulling out an essay. He could focus on that later.

When he got back on the bus to head to his job, he finally took the time to pull out the letter and read it again, gripping the sides of the paper tightly. The emotions it gave him weren’t as violent this time, since he’d read it five or six times at this point, but it was still scary. Takeshi had been bad, sure, but he’d never expected  _ this _ . 

But, then again, who does?

He scowled, releasing his death grip on the paper just so he could fold it up angrily and shove it back into its envelope. He kind of wanted to punch Takeshi. 

He put the letter back into his bag and lifted the bag up over his shoulder, stepping off the bus when it stopped at the stop closest to the restaurant. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walked up to the establishment, immediately on alert and in search of Karai. He wasn’t yet sure how she’d react to seeing him yet- well, he hoped- but he couldn’t not address the problem. 

He slipped past the distracted waiters at the front of the restaurant and headed towards the kitchens in hopes Karai would be in the middle of something and not goofing off somewhere. It didn’t take a long time of working with Karai to figure out she wasn’t the most serious of employees. 

His heart skipped a beat when he saw her heading back to the kitchen with an empty tray, and he almost hesitated, wondering if this was really a good idea, or if he should just wait.

His feet had other plans, because he realized he was hurrying towards her a little too late and he caught her arm at her elbow and she turned to look at him with eyes wide in alarm and he hesitated, watching as her features quickly settled from a panicked look to an indifferent glare. He swallowed.

“Karai-” He started, but she quickly placed a finger over his mouth and he clamped his jaw shut. He could feel his brow crease in question, concern almost, and she motioned towards a table that was just within their vision.

He moved his eyes to see Takeshi sitting at the table, more focused on a menu than their interaction, thankfully, because lord knows what he would’ve done if he’d seen Leo standing just inches from Karai.

“He’ll get suspicious if we go somewhere else to talk,” she whispered, and Leo felt sick. He wondered how Raph handled all these constant urges to just punch the daylights out of people. Except this time, Takeshi actually deserved it. 

“Here.” She reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out an envelope. This one was longer and narrower than the first one- a business envelope instead of a greeting card one. He reached out and plucked it from her grip, and he could see her hands were shaking. Out of his peripheral, he could see Takeshi lowering his menu to look at them. 

Karai maintained a straight face, although Leo could tell her composure didn’t quite meet her eyes. “The manager wanted me to give this to you.”

He frowned and glanced it over, catching onto her game. “What is it?”

“She said it was some tips people had pooled together while you were gone.” Karai took a step back, putting distance between them. “I guess… people got worried about you and the medical bills and your car and stuff…”

There was a pang in Leo’s chest and he looked at Karai, nodding slowly. “Thanks.”

“Thank the manager,” she said, a slight bit of hesitant hostility leaking into her voice. She didn’t want to treat him like this, but under Takeshi’s scrutinizing gaze, Leo understood she had to. “Not me.”

And with that, Karai turned on her heel and disappeared into the kitchen.

Leo stared after her before sighing and tucking the second envelope into his bag next to the first one. He doubted it was what Karai had actually said it was, and if his hunch was correct, he didn’t want to open it right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGPFA6OEcjQ


	5. The Second Letter

Leo turned the envelope over in his hands repetitively, staring out the window of the bus. It was taking all his self restraint to not open it. Not yet, not in public. He didn’t know what it contained, but the longer he waited, the more terrified he got. By the time he got off the bus, his hands were shaking.

The moment he stepped off the bus, he bolted back towards the house. His lungs and legs were burning as he kicked off his shoes in the doorway and dropped his bag onto the floor. He moved towards the staircase, looking at the envelope again, before freezing.

“Leo, where the hell are you going in such a hurry?”

He turned just enough to look at where Raph was seated at the kitchen table. It was late enough at night that Raph should’ve been heading to bed, and they both knew it, but the ginger didn’t look like he was about to budge any time soon. 

“... my room?”

“Why?”

“Aw, leave him alone, Raph,” Mikey suddenly piped up from the living room, invisible but audible as ever. “He’s probably off to text Karai, or something.”

Raph narrowed his eyes and looked back at Leo from where he’d shifted his gaze towards Mikey. Leo offered a smile that he knew didn’t reach his eyes, before turning and hurrying the rest of the way up the stairs.

He sat down on his bed heavily and tore into the envelope, ripping the triangle flap a bit in his haste. He dropped the envelope to his lap as he pulled out the paper… no, there were multiple papers this time. His stomach sank.

 

_ Leo, _

_ I know you only just started getting back into the swing of things, so I hesitated in writing you a second letter, but things have gotten worse.  _

_ It’s been six weeks since I left the last letter on the nightstand at the hospital. I know they probably have not been the six easiest weeks for you, and I by no means want to give you more of a burden now that you’re back to working. If anything, you probably want to ease your way into the process isntead of be thrust into drama like this.  _

_ But I am reaching a point where I’m afraid to be at home at night, even though home is supposed to be where I feel safe. _

_ Father shows no remorse for me. Sometimes I think he is the one telling Takeshi to do the things to me that he does, like some kind of boss to an employee to a mail worker.  _

_ He hurt me this weekend. _

 

Leo had to pull the note away and stare up at the ceiling for a few moments to compose himself. He was afraid to continue but he knew he should.

 

_ He got mad when I came home from work late because of traffic, and would not listen when I tried to tell him what had happened. He likes to use these brass knuckles Father gifted him years ago to attack my ribs, just above my stomach. It makes it difficult to bend over. There is a belt of bruises around there, and I think one of my ribs might be broken, but I cannot go somewhere to get it fixed. _

 

Leo’s throat felt tight.

 

_ There is a bruise on my cheek, too. I cover it with makeup because I do not know what would happen if I bore it publicly- he would get upset, most likely. I cannot risk it. I am just lucky he did not manage to break my jaw with the force of the punch. _

 

He hugged the letter close to his chest, trying to ease the ache in his heart. This wasn’t  _ fair _ , she didn’t  _ deserve _ this, why was she…?

 

_ I have been considering going to the police, but I am afraid to. I am not sure what Father or Takeshi would do, but it would not be good. I do not want to be hurt anymore. I also do not know if I can even get out of the situation. I still have to live with Father, just until I am out of school so I do not have to pay it off myself. Leaving is an option, yes, but it is not a good option. _

 

“You could come here,” Leo breathed hoarsely, almost forgetting Karai wasn’t really there with him. His voice trembled and he lowered his head.  _ She could come here and I could keep her safe. I could protect her. I could keep Takeshi from laying a filthy fucking hand on her- _

He sniffed and lifted his head, gritting his teeth as he forged on through the letter.

 

_ I know it is probably not my position to ask for help, but I am desperate. You are the only one I know I can turn to.  _

_ I was strong, Leo. I am strong. But this is an obstacle I cannot take on by myself.  _

 

_ -Karai _

 

Leo sat back against the wall, staring at the letter. He wasn’t sure what to do with this. His chest ached  _ so bad _ , and he felt kind of sick to his stomach. 

“Leo!” Someone suddenly called and he jumped, quicky pulling his knees up so he could hide the letter in his lap. Mikey threw open the door and Leo furrowed his brow. “Leo, bro, we’ve bene calling you for like, fifteen minutes.”

Leo glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost ten. He didn’t know when he’d gotten home, so he didn’t know how long he’d been pouring over this letter. Fifteen minutes at least, apparently.

“Did you need me for something?” He finally looked back at Mikey. Judging by the fact the fire alarm wasn’t going off, it wasn’t to try and get help in fixing something.

“I just wanted to make sure you ate.” Mikey leaned against the door, holding his weight up by putting his hands on the door knob. 

Leo’s stomach twisted. “I’m not hungry.”

Mikey frowned at him and Leo relaxed his legs- not enough to lower them, but they had started to shake. “Are you sick or something…?”

“I don’t think so.” Leo shook his head. 

Mikey shifted his weight from foot to foot, glancing back downstairs, clearly considering getting Donnie to come up and confirm Leo wasn’t sick.

“I’ll check tomorrow morning before I leave, okay?” Leo promised, folding the letter slowly. Mikey looked at him, and then nodded, seeming satisfied for the moment with that answer. He turned on his heel and skipped back down the stairs, leaving the door open. 

Leo let out a sigh and tucked the letter back into the envelope, placing it on the nightstand flap down so it wouldn’t pop up annoyingly. He felt helpless, useless even. What was he supposed to do to fix this?

He didn’t get a lot of sleep that night.


	6. Advice is Appreciated

He was late to class the next day. He’d slept in a little too late, after taking hours to fall asleep, and hadn’t caught the bus when he was supposed to. It was fine, though, and he still managed to get his project turned in without too much of a side eyed glare from his professor, so he was considering it a win.

As the day wore on and Leo got closer to his job, the knot in his stomach that had formed the night previous grew overwhelmingly. Despite his protests, Mikey had forced him to eat something that morning through a very stern phone call the younger had snuck into the school bathrooms to make. Leo hated making his brothers worry this much over him, but he couldn’t help it. He was really struggling. 

The few pieces of toast he’d managed to make and inhale before leaving the house hadn’t necessarily eased his stomach, but they hadn’t made it worse, and up until he stepped off the bus to head up to the restaurant, he was pretty sure it had been the only thing keeping his stomach sated. Now, he felt achingly ill. 

He walked up to the establishment and hesitated outside of the doors. He wasn’t yet sure why he was so afraid about going in. Maybe there was some part of him that was worried Takeshi had found out about the letters, and he’d be there to punish Leo for it. Maybe some part of him was worried Takeshi had found out and hurt Karai instead. Maybe some part of him just didn’t want to see Karai until after he was able to do something, come up with some way to fix this, so he didn’t have to look at her and feel horirble guilt at not knowing how to help.

But she wasn’t there. 

He wasn’t sure if it made the work day better or worse, because he still went through the motions with a fake smile and a sick feeling in his stomach. He was sure work would’ve been like this anyway, so maybe there wasn’t a difference. He’d never know. 

He was, however, worried as to why Karai wasn’t there. It was already out of the ordinary enough- it was extremely rare for her to miss a day of work- and with the added knowledge Leo had piled on top of it, it was terrifying.

He was shaking by the end of his shift.

The walk home was slower than it was yesterday. He kept his hands tucked into his pockets to avoid letting the cold late autumn wind nip at his fingers and numb them more than they already were. His shaking had stopped, but his hands trembled as he put his key in the door and opened it carefully.

What he came home to was not an unfamiliar scene. Mikey was working in the kitchen, probably cleaning up what was left of dinner. Raph was splayed out on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV with an air of uncaring boredom. Everyone knew he really just did it to pass the time. Donnie was nowhere to be found, but it wasn’t hard to guess where he was, judging by the noises coming from the basement.

Icy let out a meow when the door opened and jumped off the couch, heading over to the doorway. Leo smiled as he closed the door behind him, before the cat could escape into the night.

Mikey quickly looked into the living room at the noise, and immediately perked upon seeing Leo. “Did you eat something?” were the first words out of Mikey’s mouth, naturally, and this caused Raph to look over and narrow his eyes at Leo, already seeming to judge him for the answer he hadn’t even said yet. 

“No, unfortuantely…” Leo set his bag down by the door. “What’d you guys have for dinner?”

“Lasagna. It’s still warm. I’ll get you a plate.” Mikey disappeared back into the kitchen as quickly as he’d appeared, and Leo nodded slowly, letting his gaze wander over to Raph. 

“Mike told me you were feelin’ sick last night,” Raph grunted, muting whatever was on the TV. 

Leo shrugged off the poorly conveyed concern. “I felt better this morning.”

“You look a bit pale.”

“I haven’t eaten much.”

“Why’d you sleep in?”

The question caught Leo a bit off guard. Leo stood still, frowning faintly at the sudden unintentional blow to his streak. Raph opened his mouth like he was ready to ask more questions, but Mikey forced a plate of lasagna into Leo’s hands, effectively cutting Raph off.

“Dad wants to talk to you,” Raph instead stated simply, turning mute off and going back to surfing channels. Leo carefully bit down on a forkful of lasagna and nodded, holding the fork in his mouth as he trekked further into the house. He strode past the door to the basement silently and instead knocked on the door to Splinter’s room, under the stairs.

“Come in,” Splinter called. Leo carefully placed the fork back on his plate so he could slip into the room.

“Evening, Sensei,” Leo greeted, watching as Splinter looked at Leo from where he was sitting on his meditation mat.

“Welcome home, Leonardo,” he greeted, and Leo came to sit across from Splinter respectfully. “I assume one of your brothers told you I wanted to see you?”

“Raph did, yes.” Leo took another bite of lasagna. Mikey’s lasagna always had some interesting effect on him that made him feel at home. It even eased the knot in his stomach a bit.

“Michelangelo expressed some concerns in your behavior last night…” Splinter murmured, and this caused Leo to lift his head from where he was staring at his plate. 

“Really?” Leo didn’t sound very surprised. “What’d he say?”

“Just that you said you were feeling a bit ill. I wanted to make sure you are not pushing yourself. I know going back to everything after an accident like that can be difficult, and I want to know you are not taking it too fast.”

Leo looked down, turning the fork over in his fingers. “It… it’s not that, Sensei.”

There was a heavy silence.

“Then what is it, my son?”

Leo hated how easy he was to coax. 

He told him  _ everything _ \- how long ago Karai had broken up with him, why she’d done it, how he’d gotten the first letter, and what the second letter had said, and why he felt so bad. He left no detail out, no matter how much it made his voice shake. 

The lasagna was cold by the time he’d finished.

“This is a grave situation,” Splinter murmured.

Leo sat back with a sigh. “I know. But I don’t know how to  _ help _ .”

“Leonardo,” Splinter started, and he looked up at him. “I think you need to take this to the police.”

“But what do I take? What do I  _ say _ ? I’m not even a witness to anything!”

“You still have the letters, correct?”

Leo nodded quickly. “Yeah, I… they’re up in my room.”

“I will take you to the police station this weekend. We will get this figured out.” He placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder, and he relaxed a bit. “I promise.”

Leo nodded slowly. “Thank you, Sensei…”


	7. The Third Letter

That happened on Tuesday.

By Thursday, Leo was beyond anxious. Karai didn’t show up for work anymore that week, and it left a sickening knot in Leo’s stomach that wouldn’t leave him no matter how much of Mikey’s lasagna he indulged in. 

He knew his brothers were worried about him- he saw the looks they gave him, sometimes caught bits and pieces of the words they spoke to each other under their breaths- but he couldn’t do anything about it. Telling them all of this was the last thing Leo wanted to do. They didn’t deserve to know. Hell, Leo wasn’t sure Mikey could even understand what was going on.

He was properly hungry for the first time Thursday night, when he got home from work. Some internal part of him was getting accustomed to not seeing Karai there, which was terrifying, but it would make work on Friday a little bit easier. Just until he could take that first step into fixing things. 

He dropped his bag by the door heavily when he came home. The scene when he walked in the front door was different, and somewhat disconcerting.

Donnie, Raph and Mikey were gathered around something at the kitchen table, Mikey between the two older. A pile of mail was resting on the kitchen table, an unopened letter gripped in his hands.

The all looked at Leo when he walked in the front door. 

“What’s…” Leo started, walking over to the group. “What’s going on.”

Raph narrowed his eyes. “Why is Karai sending you…  _ letters _ ?”

“Don’t you guys text?” Donnie added.

“Your name isn’t written in her cursive,” Mikey mumbled.

And Leo thought his heart stopped.

“Give me this,” he said with a low growl, voice suddenly developing an edge that scared Mikey into obliging and handing him the letter. Leo tore it open with no respect for the envelope, dropping it to the floor as he unfolded the small letter.

 

_ Leo, _

_ I’m not allowed to leave the house anymore. Takeshi is keeping me home to keep me from talking to you. I have to write and send this before he gets home from work. I don’t know how long I have, or if this will reach you. _

_ I’m afraid. He’s physically stronger than me so it’s not like I can fight back- and my Father would get upset if I tried to resist. He doesn’t hurt me constantly, but he saw us tlaking Monday, and he got mad. I’m just lucky nothing is broken. _

_ This is my last chance, Leo. If I don’t get help now, I’m not sure I’ll ever get it. _

_ I love you, Leo. _

_ Please don’t let those feelings be in vain. _

 

_ Karai _

 

He jumped when someone placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at Raph.

“Leo, what is it.”

He clutched the letter to his chest. He was shaking, he could feel it. He knew Raph could feel it too.

“I-I have to…” He looked around for a moment. He needed a phone. He couldn’t put off telling the police any longer- not with  _ this _ .

“You need to sit down, is what you have to do. You look like you’re about to pass out.” Donnie came over and guided Leo to a kitchen chair, sitting him down. 

“Yeah,” Leo breathed. “I feel like it, too.” He didn’t let his hands relax, not daring to lower the letter. 

Mikey sorted through the rest of the mail quietly, but clearly wasn’t very invested it from the way he just kind of pushed the papers around on the table. “... Leo…”

Leo looked over at him, trying to ease his nerves. “Yeah?”

“What does the letter say.”

He pursed his lips and look down at it, reading it again. “It…”

Raph took the letter and read over it. His eyes slowly widened and he gripped the letter just as tightly as Leo had been. Donnie looked at over Raph’s shoulder, and his face paled. 

“Are there others?” Donnie breathed. 

Leo buried his face in his hands and nodded. “In my bag…”

Mikey ran out to the front door and fumbled through Leo’s back, returning with the other two letters. Raph took one, Donne the other.

“I-I need to call…” Leo lifted his head. “I need a phone.”

“Don’t you think Splinter wants to be here for this?” Donnie asked as he handed Leo a landline from off the counter. 

“He said he’d take me to the station to report it Saturday.” Leo took the phone in shaking hands. “But I can’t wait any longer. Not if… not if…”

“Not with this at stake,” Raph finished, and Leo nodded as he fumbled with the buttons. Raph pulled up a chair next to him and sat down, placing a hand on Leo’s knee. “We don’t want to lose her either.”

Leo took a careful breath and punched the numbers into the phone before putting it to his ear. 

“Hello, 911, what’s the emergency?” the voice said on the other side of the phone.

“H-hello, I…” Leo stammered, and looked at Raph. The younger nodded, edging him on, and Leo took a breath. “I’d like to report a case of domestic abuse.”


	8. Brush my Fingertips

Leo sat in the passenger seat of Raph’s truck, folding and unfolding the letters in his hands. His brother had offered to stay home from school so he could take Leo down to the police to bring in the evidence. Leo had said yes a little too quickly, and now he was reconsidering the decision. Raph was, after all, ditching school to do this for him.

Leo looked at Raph as he sat down in the driver’s seat and hurried out of the driveway. He stiffened a bit as the car started to move and focused more on the letters than the buildings passing outside.  Raph glanced at him and he slowed down a bit.

“You okay?”

Leo fiddled with the letters and swallowed. “I’m fine.”

He squeezed the wheel lightly and looked back out the windshield. Leo lifted his head finally, after a moment, and looked out at the buildings they drove by. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest and it made him more anxious than he already was. 

“I just want her to... I want to keep her safe,” Leo finally admitted, voice weak. “I want this to be over for her.”

Raph glanced at him before looking back out the windshield, turning into surface road traffic heading in towards the city.

“Yeah,” he finally said, and Leo did not miss the strain in his voice. “Me too.”

The ride there was silent, save for the soft rustle of the paper in Leo’s hands. The closer they got, the more nervous Leo became. A billion ‘what if’ scenarios ran through his head, none of them good. He just desperately hoped that none of them would come to fruition.

He was so lost in his head that he almost didn’t realize they’d parked. Raph had to nudge him gently to get him to stir. Leo carefully climbed out of the car and glanced at Raph before walking up and into the building.

It was pretty quiet for being one of the New York police stations set far into the downtown area of the city, but he supposed that was a good thing. There were few officers around- a receptionist and a couple further back into the building, discussing something quietly by a coffee pot.

“Leonardo Hamato?” Someone called and he jumped a bit as he turned to look at them. They emerged from a hallway to the right, and smiled at him- a gesture that didn’t quite meet their eyes.

He nodded. “That’d be correct… and you are?”

“Officer Donna Hanscum.” She held her hand out. “You can just call me Donna.”

He mirrored her false smile and shook her hand, holding the letters in his other. “Nice to meet you. And I go by Leo.”

She nodded and dropped her hand before her gaze fell on the letters. “This the evidence you mentioned having?”

He blinked and looked down at them. “Oh- uh, yeah.” He held them out to her and she took them, looking them over. A frown slowly crossed her face. 

“Well. This certainly is… evidence, alright.” Her gaze focused on the second letter longer than it did the first, and the third longer than the second. “My only question is… why didn’t you bring these in sooner?” She looked at him, and he felt his stomach drop.

He wrung his hands for a moment before forcing a weak chuckle. “It’s kind of a long story.”

She nodded, pursing her lips. “Well, I can take this back and have them look it over and such. But since you’re technically a witness, we’ll have to take you in for questioning.”

He watched her fold the letters with a delicacy he thought only he would ever treat them with, before nodding. “Okay.”

“Just wait here.” She patted his forearm and it eased his nervous trembling a bit before going and disappearing back down the hallway she’d come from. Leo pulled out his phone.

 

_ MotherHen: They’re taking me back for questioning. _

_ FeistyBoi: What _

_ FeistyBoi: Why _

_ FeistyBoi: You didn’t do anything _

_ MotherHen: I had some evidence that makes me a witness _

_ FeistyBoi: Do you want me to come in? _

_ MotherHen: I just thought I should let you know _

_ MotherHen: Don’t wanna keep the car running if it takes too long _

_ FeistyBoi: God you _

_ FeistyBoi: Don’t fucking worry about the car _

_ MotherHen: Gas? _

_ FeistyBoi: It’s not important _

_ FeistyBoi: Just worry about the questioning, okay? _

_ FeistyBoi: You mother hen _

 

Leo smiled before movement caught his eye and he looked up to see Donna motioning him towards the hallway. He quickly tucked his phone back into his pocket and made his way over. 

“Everything alright?” She asked as her gaze flickered to the pocket he’d put his phone in.

He blinked before smiling. “Yeah, my brother drove me here…” He pointed his thumb back towards the parking lot. “So I told him this was gonna take a bit longer than we expected.”

She nodded in understanding. “Well, I doubt it’ll take very long regardless,” she reassured. “It’s mostly just asking about the circumstances that allowed the letters to land in your possession.”

He nodded slowly as they walked and she let him into an interrogation room where an officer was already standing. He turned and smiled warmly at Leo, and some of the tension left Leo’s shoulders. This would go just fine.

The questioning mostly asked about what had gone on the past few weeks, while Leo was receiving the letters. The officer asked about the coma, and when Leo had opened the first letter. He asked about what had happened when Leo came back to work, and what happened when Karai stopped showing up. It was a much more relaxed atmosphere than Leo had been anticipating. He supposed it was probably quite different if he was the one being convicted.

“Can you find your way back?” The officer asked once the questioning was over.

Leo paused at the door and looked at him with a smile and a nod.

The officer nodded and smiled. “Thank you for your time, Leo.”

Leo nodded again, feeling his smile falter for a moment, and he turned and headed back down the hallway.

He looked up from the floor as he pushed the door open to the main lobby. Raph looked over from where he was standing with Donna on his left. On his right was…

“Karai!”

Karai turned and looked at him, eyes widening. “Leo!”

He quickly crossed the lobby and pulled Karai into a hug, squeezing her a bit too tightly. She didn’t seem to mind though, digging her nails into his back as she clung to him. 

He pulled away just enough to tilt her head up to look at him. There was a welt that was starting to fade on her cheek, and the sight of it brought tears to his eyes. “You…” He breathed, throat tight.

She reached up and cupped his cheeks in her hands. “I’m okay,” she responded, voice not above a whisper.

He quickly leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, hyper aware of the way her fingers trailed along his skin and tangled her fingers in his hair.

It wasn’t over, not yet, but with Karai in his arms, it felt like it was finally getting better.


	9. On Your Skin

The sun was just starting to come in through the curtains over the window in beams when Leo stirred awake. His chin was resting on top of Karai’s black hair, her face nestled into his chest. Her soft breaths puffed over his exposed collar bone. 

Karai stirred, her head butting up against the bottom of Leo’s chin. He pulled away and looking down at her as she moved. Her eyes fluttered open and they met gazes. 

“Morning, ‘rai,” Leo murmured. He carded his fingers gently through her hair. 

She smiled at him. “Morning Leo…”

“How was your night?” He asked, and she grinned.

“It was wonderful.” She said before inhaling through her nose and pressing further against him.

Leo watched as the bruise on her cheek disappeared against the pillow. She flinched slightly, and Leo ran his hand over her back slowly.

“You okay?” He asked, reaching up to brush his fingers along what he could of her bruised cheekbone.

“Yeah.” She reached up and waved his hand off and he pulled away. “Just a bit sore.”

A solemn look must’ve crept into his eyes, because her soft glow hardened into a somewhat scolding look. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Karai-”

“I’m  _ fine _ .”

“I’m just worried.”

“Well you don’t need to be.”

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “... What about Takeshi.”

“Huh?”

He opened them again to her puzzled gaze. “Was the charge enough to keep him…”

She furrowed her brow. “It… got weird.”

“What?”

“Father forged some… papers.”

“...  _ what _ ?”

“He forged marriage papers to make it look like Takeshi and I were married, so the charge would last longer.”

“... you’re joking.”

“Is this something I would kid about, Leo?”

He stared at her. She didn’t look back, instead tracing her finger delicately over the faint outline of his abs. 

“I think he’d been wanting to knock Takeshi down a couple pegs for a while,” she finally said. “He just... Didn’t have a chance to do it until now.”

Leo pursed his lips as he trailed his fingers over her arm. “... He put you at risk.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I wouldn’t call him best Father of the year, but there… was some underlying motive.”

“Does he know we’re…” 

“Back together?” She considered the question. “Judging by the fact I didn’t come home last night, probably.” He snorted softly. “I still doubt he likes you, but he can put up with it.”

He grinned and ran his fingers through her hair. “You never change, do you.”

“Nope.” 

He tilted her chin up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re lucky I love you for it.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re lucky I love you for being a big idiot.”

Leo saw Karai to the door, her father having sent a car to pick her up. Mikey had left for the skate park, Donnie refused to come out of the basement, and Raph was asleep on the couch. Karai quickly kissed him one last time, brushing her fingers through his hair, before hurrying out and home.

Leo stood at the door, watching her go with a calm smile, before shutting the door. He jumped a bit, nearly spilling his coffee, when Raph spoke up from where Leo had thought he was asleep on the couch.

“Did you need to read a book to make her moan like that?” Raph asked, raising one eyebrow at him. Leo whipped around and balled his hand into a fist. Raph took this as a sign to scramble off over the back of the couch before Leo came down on him.


End file.
